"I need a basic Cyberdeck and Cyberoptics that can hide from surveillance cameras."
The Ripperdoc was an old man who looked quite young. Forgive Asa for describing him this way; after all, in his past life, he rarely saw grandpas styled in a Shamat-dark-visual-kei aesthetic.
"A basic Cyberdeck? Are you sure? Once you install that, in the eyes of a real netrunner, your firewall will be no different from wet tissue paper."
The old man asked in surprise. A Cyberdeck is the key piece of cyberware connecting the brain to the digital network, used for network penetration and hacking with the help of various cybernetic enhancements. But if countered by a firewall, the data stream would instantly flood the cyberware located under the occipital bone, burning the entire brain into a delicious brain-flower hotpot.
Since Cyberdecks were constantly iterating, a basic one was indeed no different from an ordinary person's to today's top netrunners.
So the doctor asked again.
"Fine, you're the boss."
The old man shrugged, then proceeded to pick out various models of Cyberdecks and Cyberoptics for Asa.
Ultimately, Asa selected this set of operating systems.
Fuyue Electronics Basic Network, an all-purpose Cyberdeck, 3000 Eurodollars.
Kiroshi Optics Mk.2, supports 2x optical zoom, facial optical blurring, and can be fitted with two additional visual plugins, 1500 Eurodollars.
Cyberdeck plugins: Short Circuit, System Reset, and Camera Control; Cyberoptic plugins: Network Vision Enhancement and Thermal Imaging Module, 2000 Eurodollars.
Thus, Asa spent a third of his savings, even though he only bought the basic versions.
It wasn't that Asa didn't want to buy better ones, but his family background was thin. He had to save money for weapons, so he could only choose basic cyberware.
Naturally, there were countless corporations online offering loan services, but unfortunately, Asa visa was for a tourist, and he had no local job. Except for Scavengers who might eye his kidneys and original junk, no one else dared to lend to him.
If he could take out a loan, Asa would have done it long ago. No matter how powerful corporations in the 2077 world were, could they track him across the dimensional wall?
"That'll be 6500 Eurodollars. You don't have a Neural Link yet, do you? We'll throw in a Neural Link and a palm Personal Link for free."
Large corporations are great; they even have 'buy seven, get one free' promotions.
Asa seemed to remember something and said to the doctor:
"By the way, please add a USB port to the palm link."
Even though the Ripperdoc was well-traveled, he couldn't help but remind him:
"Sir, I must remind you that devices supporting USB ports were phased out as early as the end of the last century."
Then that's perfect.
Asa didn't explain.
"I'll give you an extra 100 Eurodollars."
"Alright, I'll get it ready for you."
The Ripperdoc 3D-printed a USB port on the spot and then began the surgery.
"The Neural Link implantation must be done under anesthesia. Don't worry, we are a legitimate enterprise. The entire surgery is recorded and filed; you can rest easy."
Seeing Asa nervousness, the Ripperdoc explained with a smile.
There was no sensation throughout the surgery. Asa closed his eyes and opened them, and it was over.
The Ripperdoc sat leisurely at his computer desk and tossed Asa a needleless injector.
"You must be feeling nauseous and dizzy right now. Take deep breaths; it's all normal. Rest for the next two days. If you feel unwell, use that thing—Immunosuppressants, to suppress the rejection reaction."
Nausea, dizziness?
Asa only felt like he had taken a nap, feeling completely refreshed.
This was the effect of [Infinite Overload], removing all side effects brought by the implanted cyberware.
Having actually installed the Cyberoptics and Neural Link from the game, Asa subconsciously began testing the functions of his Cyberoptics.
Zooming, thermal imaging, scanning network nodes.
The functions were indeed exactly as the doctor had described.
The palm port was also installed. Asa gave it a light pull, and three ports with cables slid out from his forearm.
One was the interface for the 2077 world, while the other two were the ones Asa had specifically requested.
After testing the cyberware for a bit, the sense of novelty gradually faded. Suddenly, Asa expression changed, and he asked:
"Doctor, the new Cyberoptics are installed, but what about my old eyes?"
"The old ones, oh, the old ones."
As if just remembering, the Ripperdoc smiled awkwardly and brought out a small frozen box.
"I must say, your eyeballs were preserved very well. The irises are intact, and the neural synapses are in good condition. I wonder if you're interested in letting our company recycle them? Don't worry, I can definitely give you a fair price."
"I'd rather not. I'm taking them home to grill and eat."
Asa casual remark left the Ripperdoc speechless, so he had to hand the two original eyes to Asa.
"Alright, the surgery fee is 3000 Eurodollars. Do you need an invoice?"
"..."
Walking out of the Ripperdoc clinic's door, Asa gave a fierce middle finger. This old man played dirty, only mentioning that the surgery fee wasn't included after the surgery was successful.
"Like the dark style, do you? Next time, I'll wash those tattoos off your face."
Turning around, Asa prepared to head to the next location.
After installing the Cyberoptics and Neural Link, another benefit was that Asa could now see the text and images on data shards.
He pinpointed the location of a local gun shop and rushed over without stopping.
In the evening, before nightfall, Asa returned to his home in Megabuilding H6.
The weapon-buying trip went smoothly, with an unexpected surprise; Asa bought three guns directly.
A power shotgun, Carnage, 500 Eurodollars, 5-round magazine, uses 4-gauge buckshot, 12-meter kill range, for close-quarters clearing.
A power semi-automatic sniper rifle, SOR-22, 900 Eurodollars, 9-round capacity, uses special sniper rifle ammo; Asa would use it to pick off enemies from a distance.
The most expensive one in this shopping trip, a revolver, Comrades Hammer, with only one round in the chamber as a tribute to Resident Evil 9, but with extremely high armor-penetration capabilities and other high-explosive ammo types available.
It was also the most expensive gun, costing Asa a full 2000 Eurodollars.
Now, with an assault rifle, shotgun, marksman rifle, and revolver, along with their respective ammunition, he was fully equipped.
In addition, Asa spent an extra 3000 Eurodollars at the gun shop owner's place to get a shooting club membership, allowing him to go to the second-floor range to practice at any time for three months.
Asa wasn't greedy; he'd go to the range tomorrow to fire two hundred rounds and test his wrist strength.
The 1-cubic-meter initial space provided by the system was almost stuffed full of the firearms and ammunition Asa had bought. In a corner of the space, there was also a translucent small frozen box.
Inside were Asa original eyes.
Taking them home for skewers was, of course, a joke by Asa.
He wanted to see if his original parts would return to his body after switching back to the Resident Evil equipment loadout.
Might as well try.
[Switched to Resident Evil equipment loadout.]
With a thought from Asa, the system's equipment loadout changed instantly. The green Cyberdeck and white optical cyberware vanished completely along with the cyberware interface, replaced by the DNA double helix structure.
Opening his palm, the ports and connections were gone. In the mirror, his clear black-and-white eyes gave a tangible sensation.
His own eyes were back!
Asa checked the space and saw the small box in the corner still lying there quietly, but the eyes inside had vanished as Asa switched his equipment loadout.
Good, good, equipment recovery, credited in a second.